The Apocalyptic Vision of Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita

This study takes as its premise that the novel, which is fascinating for both what it reveals and what it conceals, carries within itself a coherence of meaning. It is widely acknowledged that religious categories of understanding are necessary for a proper interpretation of the novel, but it is common to conclude that Mikhail Bulgakov's outlook is heterodox. This study places him within the theological tradition of Eastern Orthodoxy. The novel draws upon the long line of apocalyptic visionary writing and takes its place in that line. This interpretation allows the reader to make sense of the abundant symbolic correspondences in the novel, including the fact that they are skewed, inexact, and often overlapping. To see the novel as both completed and coherent depends on the cumulative evidence amassed through analysis of the novel's many significant details.